Magic Lauge stars on a historic night

It took them 87 duels to beat their arch rivals by more than seven goals for the first time, but on Sunday night SG Flensburg-Handewitt recorded their clearest win ever against THW Kiel, finishing a magic night with a double-digit score line.

More than 6000 fans were present in Flens-Arena for the home side’s night to remember, and Kiel’s night to forget.

Thanks to this unexpectedly clear result, Flensburg extended their winning streak to eight straight victories and are back on top of the group with 18 points alongside PSG Handball.

Group A
SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) vs THW Kiel (GER) 37:27 (17:15)

The match winners for Flensburg were two former THW players: Goalkeeper Mattias Andersson, who saved 45 percent of all Kiel shots, and left back Rasmus Lauge, who scored nine goals.

“Everything was simply incredible – my performance, the match, the atmosphere. Now we have all advantages on our side,” said Lauge, as his coach Ljubomir Vranjes already looks ahead: “We will not give this position from our hands.”

Vranjes underlined the significance of the clearest ever derby win for Flensburg: “You will see a match like this once in 40 years.”

Anderson simply enjoyed the score board: “I never experienced a result like this, and I currently have no compassion for Kiel. In contrast to previous duels, today we could play with a full squad, as the number of injuries was one reason on the THW side for the final result.”

Kiel remain on eleven points and will have to fight to hold on to fourth position until the end of the group phase.

“We must forget this match as soon as possible. Now we have to focus on the remaining three group matches and hopefully win them to have a quite good base for the Last 16,” said Kiel left wing Dominik Klein.

THW top scorer Domagoj Duvnjak (eight goals) added: “We never expected to lose by ten goals. But to concede 37 goals says it all.”

The first half of the match was incredibly intense. Both sides fought for every centimetre, with full power and their highest speed. And for the first 25 minutes the 87th duel of the northern German rivals was equal, with the lead constantly changing.

Then Kiel – minus injured stars Patrick Wiencek, Rene Toft Hansen, Christian Dissinger and Steffen Weinhold, but including late arrivals Dener Jaanimaa and Ilija Brozovic – made too many mistakes in attack and were punished by Flensburg’s counter attacks.

13:11 was the first two-goal advance in the match, and when Thomas Mogensen struck for Flensburg to take the score to 16:12, it was clear Kiel were in danger.

Surprisingly, THW started with Nikolas Katsigiannis between the goal posts. But in contrast to the first leg (27:23 in favour of Kiel), Katsigiannis could not control the match the way his counterpart Andersson did – the Swedish goalkeeper was one of the keys of the 17:14 halftime lead, which was sealed by the fifth goal from Danish left wing Anders Eggert.

While Flensburg, who were without injured French World Champion Kentin Mahe, counted on their wings Eggert and Lasse Svan (together eleven goals in total), Kiel’s best weapons were their tall, powerful back court shooters Duvnjak and Joan Canellas.

But after the break, Lauge became the mastermind of Flensburg flurry of goals. The Dane, who had only scored once in the first half, was on fire.

Scoring goal after goal, Lauge shocked his former teammates and caused two THW time-outs within only five minutes – the first when he netted for 24:19, and the second, after Mogensen increased the gap to 27:19 in minute 44.

In the final stages, two long-term injured SG players had their on-court comeback, crowned by crucial goals: Jim Gottfridsson scored twice, while Jakob Heinl was responsible for the first double-figured advantage at 35:25.